It Happened At Night
by Kanthia
Summary: A crisis has left Lloyd without a mentor. The world was not kind enough to give Regal a student - until they found each other, one night, near dawn. Regal agrees to train with Lloyd, which they discover may be mutually ennobling, in the end. (Follows the plot of the first game. Spoilers.)
1. Prologue

In 2009 I decided to do the 365 drabble challenge - writing a 300 word ficlet every day - and for some reason I kept coming back to a story about Regal and Lloyd training together at night. We jokingly called it the "Regal and Lloyd Do Manly Things Together Saga" back then, and it had always been my intention to come back to it when I could do the story justice. If you're looking for the roots of this fic, it's in bits and pieces in a much older collection of mine on this site, "Once in Every Lifetime".

I hope you like it!

* * *

**It Happened At Night**

(_a prologue. we had no choice_)

With Kratos, it happened at night. After the rest of the party was asleep, depending on what they had planned for the next day, Kratos would pull him aside and teach him a little. Lloyd had never had a sword tutor before, and had always assumed that if he swung hard enough and fast enough whatever was in his way would fall before his might - and it was nice, too, to pretend like he had an older brother, even though Kratos was a little old for that.

For Lloyd, who had never been away from home before, those training sessions gave something to look forward to on the Journey of Regeneration, other than the thought of having no home to return to. It became their little ritual, and by the time they reached the Tower of Mana, the lessons gave him almost a nice sense of rhythm to the whole thing. If there was one thing he could always count on, it was that Kratos would have something to criticize, hinting at something that Lloyd could improve on. It made Colette's slowly waning humanity a little easier to bear.

It happened at night, the last night before they were going to approach the Tower of Salvation. They were sparring just outside of Hima when Lloyd had the joint realization that there was no reason a hired mercenary would stick around after the regeneration ritual was completed, and that he'd never thanked Kratos for teaching him. He thanked him, called Kratos 'master' in the shade of a flat-leafed tree, and when Kratos said he had no right to be called such a thing Lloyd thought nothing of it.

So when it all went wrong in the Tower of Salvation, and they learned that Kratos had been their enemy all along, it had been more than losing a teammate or friend - he'd lost a mentor, a teacher, a goal worth working towards. The situation spit them out in Tethe'alla with more questions than answers, stranded in a world not their own, scrambling for meaning in the middle of a crisis. By the time the dust had settled and the Key Crest he had cobbled together brought Colette back from the dead, they were on the run from Desians and the Papal Knights, criminals being chased down by convicts, and (in a way that Lloyd would not have been able to put together in as few words) he was worried his swordsmanship was stagnating, and homesick, besides.

_No, not homesick,_ Lloyd found himself thinking, as they raced towards Ozette and the promise of healing Presea. _I miss Dad, but it's not that. I miss having someone like Kratos around._ The Professor was sort of like him - heck, back in the Sylvarant days he and Colette used to joke that it was like two parents and three kids - but she was not Kratos, and she needed her sleep.

And then the trees rattled, and the blue-haired prisoner dropped into their midst, demanding to talk to Presea. Lloyd had enough of people demanding things without explaining why. He drew his swords.


	2. Chapter 1: It Happened Near Dawn

**Chapter 1: It Happened Near Dawn  
**(_the world hasn't worn me down, yet.)_

It happened near dawn. Lloyd wasn't on watch - after the narrow escape in the Gaoracchia Forest they were sleeping in Mizuho, and had elected for a full night's sleep over a little extra safety - but Kratos had taught him (among other things) to wake up to the slightest sound. That had been back in the early days, when Colette hadn't told the others that she was suffering, and Genis and the Professor needed their sleep, and Sheena still wasn't to be trusted. He had learned to trust Kratos, back then. He should have known better.

The sound of a creaking floorboard wrenched him awake, and he forced himself up off the ground, hands on his swords, exphere flashing in the dark. A very surprised Regal stopped and turned to face him, a bag slung over his shoulder, halfway out the door.

"I can explain," Regal said, and his expression seemed genuine. Lloyd had a moment of indecision, but at the end of the day the world hadn't worn him down to a stub yet, and he couldn't betray the very nature that had sustained him for seventeen years.

"Fine," Lloyd said, sheathing his weapons. "Explain."

Regal turned his body towards Lloyd, and motioned towards him with his shackles. "I did not intend to stray out of sight of the village. I swore I wouldn't betray you. I…" His shoulders slumped, and a thin stream of moonlight punctuated his silhouette. "I was restless, and thought I would - train a little. I would not want to hold you back in a moment of weakness."

Regal was kind of weird. He looked like a prisoner, but talked like a king.

"You're weird," Lloyd said, but allowed himself to smile. "Sorry for startling you. Gotta be on my guard, you know."

"And to you, the same. Now that I've woken you, would you like to join me?"

Lloyd was used to those little evening training excursions, back when he had thought he had understood the world, understood Kratos, understood that his Exsphere was just the keepsake of a mother killed by Desians. There wasn't much difference between being tutored by a traitor at night, and by a convict at dawn. "Yeah, if you wouldn't mind having me."

So that was how it started, with a few exchanged words and a leap of well-intentioned faith. The guard posted at the gate reminded them that they wouldn't be let out of sight, much less out of the village - but they were given a corner of a paddy, where a woman doing some predawn field work kept one eye on them. Lloyd watched with muted interest as Regal emptied the contents of the bag, a pair of bulky-looking greaves.

"They are useless for fighting, but useful for preparing the body for battle." He handed one to Lloyd as he strapped on the second.

Lloyd took it. "Ah, it's heavy. Are your other greaves like this?" - To which Regal offered a chuckle, which gave Lloyd his answer.

"I have discovered that putting the body through difficult training makes an actual battle significantly easier. If I do not need to focus on the strain on my body, I can direct the additional energy towards decoding my enemies' movements and strategies." He took the second greave back from Lloyd, and, slightly quieter, added, "And time in prison moves slowly, without something so severe it dulls the senses."

Lloyd, who had to pause to decode every second word that came out of Regal's mouth, understood the sentiment. "I think I sorta get it," he said. "When Genis and I were banished from Iselia, we wandered into the desert without food or water. I just - wanted to not think, for a while."

"Then we have something in common." Regal smiled. "Let's not think together, for a while."

* * *

Regal's shirt came unlaced at the shoulders, which allowed the whole thing to get kicked off without the shackles getting in the way. After throwing his shirt atop Regal's a few twists of Lloyd's scarves bound his wrists. To warm up their legs and wake up their blood, Regal had them run around the field until Lloyd could feel sweat dripping down the back of his neck, despite the cool morning breeze. Then there were step-ups, jumping onto and over fallen logs, running up and down a nearby hill, leg lifts, running in place bringing the knees up as high as they could, planking, and push-ups - one hand at a time.

"I - can't - imagine - living - like - this," Lloyd managed to eke out, in between sit-ups. Not being able to move his hands, even when he didn't need to, gave him the strangest feeling of claustrophobia, as though his ability to move the world around him had gotten a little smaller.

"Eating was quite difficult at first, but the human body - especially with an Exsphere equipped - is surprisingly versatile." Regal sat up all the way, then stood. "Has anyone taught you how to properly do a squat?"

Lloyd groaned, but followed Regal up. "My dad never did anything like this with me," he professed. "I mean, I slung a lot of heavy stuff back home, when we were working, and he always had me do all the heavy lifting when I was crafting my own stuff. Dwarven Vow number four: don't depend on others, walk on your own two legs."

Regal handed him a rock, which felt like a small boulder. "Feet shoulder-width apart. Hands straight out - come now, don't let them drop." A bead of sweat ran down Lloyd's nose. On reflex his tongue flicked out, and he tasted salt. "You were raised by a dwarf?"

After the first squat, Lloyd's legs were burning. "Yeah. He found me after my mother was killed by Desians." After the second, Lloyd shook his head. "No, that's wrong. My father killed my mother, who was turned into a monster by the Desians. Dad found me after that."

There was a very long silence, during which they squatted twice more, then Regal had them hold the fifth halfway down. "Your mother, was she a part of the Desians' Exsphere experimentation?"

"Y-yeah."

"Even there, then," Regal murmured, and Lloyd figured it was best not to press further, because at that moment his legs gave out and he collapsed with a yelp. The ground was really comfortable, and the sun was just peeking over the horizon, and the last thought Lloyd had before he slipped to sleep was of Kratos' back as he walked away.

* * *

"Lloyd, you okay?" Genis' worried face was suddenly inside his field of vision.

"H- huh? Yeah." He'd given himself a moment to rest his burning legs in Altessa's house, and had spaced out. "Tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"We're gonna head out soon." It was midafternoon, and in another situation they might have considered waiting until morning, but Regal and Genis wanted to head south to the Toize Valley Mine for Presea immediately, and Colette was never one to rest when someone needed help, and Lloyd always sided with Colette, which automatically outvoted the rest of the party - particularly Zelos, who thought that sleeping outside was some bizarre Sylvaranti tradition. They stopped by Ozette for supplies, and two extra tents to placate Zelos, then headed out.

By the time they emerged from the mine it was just after nightfall. Pushing through exhaustion, Lloyd and Sheena collected firewood while the rest of them set up camp, and Genis and Regal threw together a huge meat stew. They ate in near-silence, Colette snuggling up to him, Raine commenting that Tethe'alla's climate was cooler than Sylvarant's and wondering quietly, aloud, whether it was a function of a flourishing world or Celsius versus Efreet, and after his night watch Lloyd fell into a deep and untroubled sleep.

Regal woke him up, just before dawn, and asked him if he wanted to join him in training.

* * *

As soon as Presea was awake Colette was kidnapped, and getting her back meant using the Riehards, and using the Riehards meant forging a pact with Volt before storming the Renegade base. Dire circumstances called for acting quickly. Lloyd's body remembered the rhythms of sleeping as few hours as possible, and one morning outside the Temple of Lightning Regal asked him who had trained him to sleep like a mercenary.

"Dad always had me up before dawn to stoke the fire for ore-smelting," Lloyd said, between squats. "But it was Kratos, really. He and I divvied up the night watch, so we had to be careful to get enough sleep. After the first hour, I'd take a two-hour watch, and then he'd take two hours, and then we'd all sleep for three hours - um, but he was usually up at dawn anyways, to wake Colette and Genis and the Professor, who'd make breakfast. It somehow worked out."

"- After the first hour? Get your legs a little more parallel to the ground."

"Parallel?"

"Horizontal."

"Oh, okay. Kratos and I -" Lloyd motioned with his hands. "-We used to do this sort of thing, at night. I mean, it was more about swords than squats - ah, no offence - but it was," he twisted his mouth. "Good. It was good, to have someone like that, giving up sleep for me. Like a big brother. Or another dad."

A bead of sweat trickled onto Lloyd's upper lip.

"Uh, but this is good too! Thanks, I mean. For going easy on me."

"Going easy on you?" Regal grinned a sly little grin. "We'll see if you're still feeling that way in twenty minutes."

"Wait - I didn't mean -" But Regal was laughing, and the two of them were suddenly running, and Lloyd was gasping for air, and he was, in a way, happy.

* * *

More people meant more night watch shifts, which meant more sleep, and Regal was up in the morning to help make breakfast. They were heading towards the Renegade base, and it was a cool morning besides, so they'd settled on a hot breakfast - Sheena had a recipe for rice pudding with mackerel she was itching to try out.

"Regal." He turned from the rice he had been soaking, found Raine holding a book open, but looking straight at him. "I heard you and Lloyd up this morning. What exactly were you doing?"

Regal hesitated; he wasn't certain what she was getting at, but at least her look was questioning and not threatening. "He seemed interested in joining my training regime. I found no reason to refuse his request."

"Ah." There was a moment, but she smiled. Raine had, Regal noted, the beautiful soft smile of someone who did not trust easily, but trusted completely. Then, quieter, "That's good. He needed something like that."

"He did say that he had been trained by Kratos."

"It hurt us all, but him most of all, I think." Raine put her book down. "Lloyd's faith is a powerful thing. Take care of him."

"I will not betray him," Regal replied, and that was all that needed to be said.


End file.
